Improvement in car-axles



J. D. I M B 0 1) EN.

CAR-AXLE.

Ill,

INVENTOR v 6, flwzwzu Patented Se pt. 26,1876.

ATTOR N EY emme STATES PATENT Qrrrca.

JOHN D. IMBODEN, on RICHMOND, VIRGINIA.

lMPR OVEMENT IN cAR-AxLEsi Specification forming part'of Letters Patent No. l82,673,.dated September 26, 1876; application filed June 17,1876.

To all whom it may concern: Be it known that I, JOHN D.-IMB01)EN, of

Richmond, in the county of Henrico, and 'State of Virginia, have invented a new and valuable Improvement in Twisting Oar-Axles; and I do hereby declare that the following *is a full, clear, and exact description of the construction and operation of the same, reference being had to the annexed drawings, making a part of this specification, and to the letters and figures of reference marked thereon. v

" Figure 1 of the drawings is a representation of a longitudinal central section of my improved car-axle. Fig. 2 is a detail view; and Fig. 3 is a crosssectional view taken through the splice-box, the gibs, and the core.

the parts in combinatiomas hereinafter fully shown and described. V

In the accompanying drawings, the letters I. AA designate the cylinder-sections of the axle, to which the wheels are secured at the proper'distance from the end of each to conform to the gage of the particular road on 'Which they are to 'run. These cylinders form the external portion of the axle, and they are provided with an axial bore to receive the hinding-core B, which extends the entire length of the axle. Each cylinder-section is half the length of the axle, and has a journal turned ateach end, one marked a on the drawings, exterior to the wheel, and answering to the ordinary burden-journal of the common axle; the other a on the inner end of the cylinder. The two journals a are designed to work in the usual way in the journal-boxes. The other two journals a, meet each other end to end exactly at the middle of the core.

The core B has'a screw-thread cut on each end b to receive the countersunk nuts 0,

which serve the double purpose of clasping and drawing together the axle'sections, and keeping the journals, at the middle of the axle, well up to their hearings in the splice box; and also'of keeping the brasses in place in the ordinary journal-boxes,-in this manner answering to the heads or end buttons of the ordinary axle. v

When the cylinder-sections have been placed on the core and the nuts 0 screwed up, we have a simple severed hollow axle held together by the bolt or core, which, without further mechanical aid, would be wholly dependent on the stitl'ne'ss of the core, to resist bending. 1

To render the central portion of the axle or the pointof junction of the two cylinders as inflexible as any part of the axle, cap'ableof resisting bending strains and yet free to yield to torsional force, the central splice-box and its bearings are employed. In order to form proper ahutments for the ends of the splicebox, the collars D are shrunk or screwed on the cylinders at the shoulders c of the inner journals.

-E represents the splice and truss box, pref- 'erably formed of cast-iron, and long enough toab'ut against the collars D, when the inner journals a are in close contact with each other at the ends-that is to say, if the collars D are placed at the shoulders of the inner journals, as represented in the drawings, the splice-box should be exactly the combined length of the two innerjournals. In casting this box, it is cored out to have a bore, d, of somewhat greater diameter than that of the incased journals. In this bore are formed several longitudinal grooves, e, extending its entire length, each groove being preferably about half the diameter of the bore in width, and one-fourth its diameter in depth. These grooves are intended'to receive the gibs or bearings F, which are closelytitted and well embedded therein. These bearings are ground to fit neatly on' the journals a, and each gib being as long as both journals, acts asa splice overthe joint where the ends of the journals meet. Y

In this construction it is plainly impossible to bend the axle at the joint without bending the gibs. In order, however, to ire-enforce thesegibs or bearings at the point of greatest strainto wit, over the joint between'theends of the journals a--a-hole, g, is boredand tapped out from the outside of the splice and truss box, and a strong set-screw, h, is forceddown into close contact with the gib under it, so that its bearing is exactly. in the middle of the gib. By this means the strain at this point is transferred in great part to the body of the splice and truss box.

The splicing-gibs are all securely trussed in their beds, and bending cannot occur unless the strain is sufficient to cause the entire mass of the gibsand truss-box to give way. The axle may in this manner be made stronger at the splice than at any other point.

To lubricate the parts in the splice-box, an.

annular oil-chamber, G, is cored out and cast in the said splice-box, with external supplyapertures and screw-stops t, and suitable internal perforations through which the oil is fed to'the journals between the sides of the gibsd To prevent leakage of oil from the box, and to exclude dust, adjoining. rahbets are formed in the adjacent edges of the collars and boxes, forming grooves k, into which are laid closefitting', packings of sole-leather or other suitable material, breaking the joint. To keep the packing in place in the groove a clamp-band, m, is applied over the same, fitting closely in the groove is, and being drawn together by a screw passing ,throughsuitable lugs, as indicated at 1. N

If the parts referred to are well fitted the leakage of oil will be prevented, unless it may be that a small portion may find its way along the core to the nuts at the ends of the axle, and there escape. In that case the leak is of service in the car-axle box. 7

In order to secure the set-screws and oilstoppers in position lock-nuts may. be employed. These mayconsist of flexible metallic plates q, designed to be arranged transversely on the splice-box. Each plate is provided in its central portion with a square hole to fit on the head of the oil-sto 'jfper, at

one 'endwith an elliptical aperture, rough' which oneof the set-screws passes, and at the otherwitha bifurcation, the branches of which" are designed to clasp the head ofthe set-screw and hold it securely;

The motion of the journals at the middle of the'axle is'limited to that occasioned by curvature in the'roadway, undulations in the rails, or difference in the diameters of the wheels, causing one wheelto revolve faster than its fellow. This motion will be so slow and inconsiderable, and thebearing upon these inher journals so small, that they will probably sustainno appreciable loss-of size from wear until the outer journals are too much worn to be further used with safety. Then it is proposed to reverse the cylinders in the wheels, drawing off the latter from the outer ends, re-

moving the washers from the inner ends, and replacing these parts, respectively,'on the opposite or inner'ends of the sections and on the outer ends thereof. In this manner the worn journals will be turned inward, and the wheels will be upon the unworn journals, which were the inner ends of the cylinders. The gibs of the truss-box are now fitted to the worn journals, and the outer journals put to use in the axle-box, the axles thereby acquiring double life.

By the freedom of motion allowed to the wheels flattening is prevented, and the life of the wheels prolonged perhaps threefold over what it is in the inflexible axle. A corresponding saving is effected in the wear of rails, and an important gain secured in the traction necessary to haul a train. This axle is capable of introduction on all present rolling-stock, requiring no change in the standard hearings or boxes, and no independent or supplemental box. The axle is designed to preserve its alignment under all conditions, and spreading of the wheels, by reason of the core, is as impossible as it is with the solid axle.

What I claim-as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In combination with the tubular axlesections A A, the solid core fillingup said sections, screw-threaded upon its ends, and

the countersunk nuts clamping the adjacent inner ends of the said sections together, substantially as specified.

2. In combination with the tubular axlesections, and a solid core, breaking joints therewith, the splice ortrussbox E, having an annular oil-reservoir, Gr, substantially as specified 3. The splice or truss box IE, havinggibs or bearings E" between the box and axle-sections, in combination withthe axle-sections A A, and the set-screws clamping the said bearingsacross the joint of the axle-sections, substantially as specified.

'4. In combination with the axle-sections A JOHN D. IMBODEN.

Witnesses:

ALLEN H. GANGEWER, F. J. MASI. 

